Dark Star

Audience Reviews

View More

Feb 28, 2019 While the cinematic effects may be a little clunky, the story and characters were magnetic. The movie was a down-to-earth treatment of people traveling in space on a planet "weeding" mission; a very routine but isolated life. Loved the scenes where the characters would get into conversations with the bomb. I really liked the movie ! Space travel is shown in all its gritty reality rather than the stylized glamour of Star Wars, etc. See more

Han P Jul 24, 2018 The dense, confused tale of four exhausted, fatally stir-crazy astronauts in the midst of a twenty-plus-year mission to clear the universe of unfriendly alien planets. Long and windy, I couldn't decide if this was intended to be a dark comedy (as many of the promotional materials imply) or a more serious effort. In either case, I can't say it's a success. Dark Star's influences and offspring are much more interesting than the film itself. Inspired by, if not directly pulling from, classic short stories by the likes of Bradbury, Asimov and Dick, it also led to several creative hallmarks of the genre. Director/producer/writer/soundtrack musician(!) John Carpenter, of course, should need no introduction. His co-writer, not to mention one of the film's stars, Dan O'Bannon, would go on to pen the sci-fi classics Alien and Total Recall. At this point in both men's careers, however, they were still throwing spaghetti at the wall and standing back to see how much stuck. Experimental and cheeky, Dark Star is tonally inconsistent and poorly edited, running for about thirty minutes longer than was really necessary. The effects work is painfully dated, somehow worse than the old Star Trek TV episodes of half a decade prior, and is not helped by the camera's tendency to adoringly linger well past the point of good reason. The resident alien (literally a spray-painted beach ball with chicken feet) and absurdly contrived parting shot (think Dr. Strangelove meets Dick Dale) are particularly bad, yet also somehow more memorable for their ineptitude. I can't say I'm glad I watched this, but it keeps bubbling to the surface of my consciousness. Maybe there's something telling about that? See more

Ron M May 10, 2018 It's hard to believe Carpenter started his career with a 2001 parody. It's odd, slow and sometimes out-of-context. But at least it had a fun time. See more

Hermione M Apr 26, 2017 Not the most exciting, but cool if you're in the right mood to see it

Theodore R Apr 25, 2017 If you like homemade hilarity, please do see this movie. Notice the ingenious use of dumpsters and beachballs in enhancing the viewer's experience. This movie cracks me up. It may not necessarily crack YOU up but I was in college and this is a college film. Then gain, it STILL cracks me up. Carpenter has only improved over time and I have infinite time for the man's work. Let there be light. See more

Hagrid W Jan 8, 2017 In his entertaining debut feature, John Carpenter embarks on a creative partnership with Dan O'Bannon (The Return of the Living Dead) to create a science fiction comedy that, embracing his trash spirit, manages to creatively exploit his parody of 2001 - A Space Odyssey. See more

Read all reviews

Dark Star

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING